Thursday, September 30, 2010

Archibald, one of our two rats, had passed away. I don't know what happened. I had noticed a few days ago that he hadn't seemed to be interested in eating, but I thought maybe it was just because it was getting colder outside.

Cathy and I took him into the back yard and buried him. Then I cleaned out Roswell's cage and put Roswell back in the cage.

Then I got worried. I started looking online and found that rats don't do very well by themselves. Everything said that they can survive, but that they won't be happy and they won't live as long as they normally should.

So Cathy and I headed to Pet Supplies Plus and got Roswell a new friend. His name is Spencer, and he's a tiny little guy. We got Roswell out of the cage and introduced them, and there wasn't any fighting or anything...so we kept them out for a little while then put them into the cage and they are getting along great.

It's funny because Roswell is SO much bigger than Spencer...and Spencer spends most of his time laying on top of Roswell.

Hopefully they'll both live long and happy lives now...and we won't ever forget Archibald. Rest in Peace little buddy!!!!

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Cathy and I are going to Hawai'i in 2012. We will both get pretty large bonuses from work in January of 2011. I had originally been planning on saving my entire bonus for the trip to Hawai'i so that we could have a ton of money for the trip there. However, we will also get a bonus right before we go to Hawai'i...

...so...I've been thinking that maybe a quick trip to Vegas is in order in February. It will have been a year since we went, and we didn't really go on any kind of vacations at all this past summer, and we don't have anything planned for the fall.

I'm thinking another 4 nights and 5 days would end up costing about $1,000 for the airfare and the hotel...which isn't really too bad. I could pay that and still have plenty left over from my bonus to put away for that trip to Hawai'i.

The best part about Vegas to me is that as we go more often, it becomes more and more relaxing. As we do more things and get to the point where we've seen just about everything there is to see, we also get to the point that we can basically just sit around and enjoy ourselves.

So I'm thinking that it's probably going to happen...now I just need to start hunting for some good airfare...

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Today Cathy and I both ordered new iPod Touches. This is the newest iPod Touch. It has quite a few new features that we were both interested in.

I pretty much had to get one. The one that I got last year is about a month past it's warranty, which means it's the PERFECT time for it to start to die on me. The screen on it isn't working correctly any more, and a quick check on Apple's site shows that it would have cost me AT LEAST $100 to get it fixed, probably quite a bit more.

So I upgraded to the 4G version of the device, which gives me four times the storage space and all the new features.

I'm especially interested in the HD video that it can take. I have been making videos of the puppets that I've been making and posting them so that people can see what they look like, and to do it I have to use several programs. From what I've seen about the camcorder in the iPod, you can take the HD video, edit it, and upload it to YouTube all from the device itself...which will be GREAT!!!!

They should be here on Thursday, so I won't have to wait long. I will probably end up keeping my old one and using it solely as a music player...that way if it gets banged around a bit it won't matter at all.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

I actually think I enjoyed this more than "The Event." It was fun, action packed, humorous, and well acted. I thought the show was excellent and I really enjoyed it from start to finish. I found myself smiling throughout almost the entire thing.

On November 17th, Cathy and I are taking our friend from work Alex to a Detroit Red Wings game.

It's Alex's birthday on the 16th, but the 17th will work better for all three of us. The Wings are playing the St. Louis Blues that day, so hopefully it will end up getting them some points. I am going to get him a T-shirt and a hat to give him before the game, and we're going to go to dinner somewhere in Detroit before the game starts...so it should be pretty fun.

On November 20th, however, we are doing something even more amazing. I thought I had posted about this before, but I can't find it so I guess I must not have.

Alex usually spends a lot of money on his friends for Christmas. This year he won $10,000 from the TV show "Survivor" on some text and win contest, and at work a few weeks ago he was talking about Ultimate Fighting Championship coming to Detroit. Cathy jokingly said "Man, if only I knew someone that won 10 grand this summer who could get us a luxury suite" and that set the plan in motion.

Tickets went on sale the other day, and Alex purchased the second most expensive luxury suite available at the palace. Twelve tickets are included...extras go for $50 each...and from what we can gather it's catered...at no charge...with free beer.

Alex paid for all of this, and invited his closest friends to come and enjoy the fights with him. It's crazy because Cathy was being completely humorous when she said it, and Alex just went with it. He said "If we're going to go to UFC for the first time, we might as well make it memorable, right?"

Memorable is an understatement. I think it's going to be AMAZING fun. I'm really looking forward to it, and so is everyone going. I think there's going to be a total of 15 of us when it's all said and done...but if a couple can't get the time off of work we may dip down to 12. Either way it's going to be a blast.

Friday, September 24, 2010

I always think that if a company is taking preorders of something, they should ALWAYS have enough of the product to fill the preorders. Once the number of products is claimed, they should STOP TAKING PREORDERS.

That's not the case with Capcom's store, apparently, as today I got an e-mail from them letting me know that my "High Stakes Edition Dead Rising 2" was on back order.

Of course, there's no easy way to contact the company. You can send them an e-mail, but there's no information about how to cancel the order, how to call them on the phone, or anything like that.

So I did some searching online and I found a phone number that connected me to the company that runs Capcom's online store. I asked if they had any idea when the product would be back in stock, and the representative told me "We have never had a product through Capcom that was a preorder end up selling out and going on back order, so unfortunately we don't know when it will be available."

Well, that was that. I canceled my order right there and will probably just end up ordering a standard version of the game from Amazon. There's another collector's edition, "The Zombrex Edition," but it just doesn't really look very cool to me at all. So I guess I'll just save the $40 and get the regular one.

Oh well. I'm a bit bummed that I won't be able to get the version that I wanted, but saving $40 isn't too shabby.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

I am an animal lover...and love dogs in particular. I have three dogs of my own, all rescued from a local shelter, and I'm actually disappointed in myself right now because I can't take in a fourth. I simply don't have room, but she needs help or she's probably going to die. But I can't have a fourth dog, it just wouldn't work.

With that said, I HATED Michael Vick for what he did. I thought he was the scum of the earth, and I thought that he should have had done to him what he had done to each and every one of those dogs.

But.

He served his time. He paid the debt to society that the law levied on him.

And.

He seems like he's changed. He seems more humble to me now. He seems like a person that had the world, then threw it away, and is now trying to get back what he once had because he now knows how lucky he was.

He also seems like he learned from his mistakes. I think he "learned" what he already "knew." He learned that fighting dogs is wrong. He knew it was illegal, but he learned that it's wrong.

I for one am willing to forgive him and give him another chance. But I will never forget what he did.

I think he deserves this second chance...let's just hope he handles it with care, because not many people are lucky enough to have what he had. Even fewer are lucky enough to get it back after they have lost it.

After going 1-4 last week, I followed that up with a stellar 1-4 performance. Unfortunately, my win this week came in a different league...which means that I'm 1-1 in two leagues and 0-2 in two leagues.

The worst part?? I think my teams are just horrible. I have Brett Favre as my "best" QB on four of my teams, and he was good for -1 point this week. Amazing.

Nobody ended up with any strikes in the survival league, and our pick'em league all had pretty close picks. I'm still in the lead in that, but my lead was cut by a little bit.

Oh well, I'll give it a few more weeks...then start looking towards next season!!!

Sunday, September 19, 2010

So it's the time of year that all the great video games start coming out.

I've been ordering and preordering games all over the place the last couple of weeks.

It all started this past week with "Halo Reach." A great campaign and an online multiplayer mode that is growing on me. I'll say this as a major positive about the online multiplayer...playing with my real friends from work, Alex and Elon, makes up a bit for the fact that the multiplayer isn't as fun as I remember.

But now, let's move on to the games that I've preorderd that will be coming out in the next few months.

First off is "Dead Rising 2." It comes out September 28th, so this one is just around the corner. I actually preordered a very limited edition from Capcom's website that comes with a poker set from the casino in the game and a chance to win a HUGE zombie from the game. Should be a fun game. I've played a demo of it and found it pretty enjoyable. If nothing else, it's absolutely hilarious. Next up is "Castlevania Lords of Shadow." It's a third person action game that looks like it takes the things I liked about "Dante's Inferno" and ups the ante with all kinds of more awesome. I got the special edition of this from Amazon, and it included $20 worth of game cash that can be used for a future purchase. It comes out on October 5th, so just a week after "Dead Rising 2."

After that there's a couple of weeks worth of wait time for November 5th, which is when "Goldeneye 007" comes out for the Wii. This is a remake of a classic Nintendo 64 game that was really the game that got me into shooters in the first place. The remake looks solid, and I'm hoping that it will be great in a nostalgiac but new kind of way. I'll be getting the edition that comes with the Golden Controller...

After that is another couple of weeks worth of waiting, until November 26th, when a workout game comes out for the Wii. Cathy has and enjoys EA Active for the Wii, and they are releasing a more "male" type version of that game. It's "EA Active NFL Training Camp." As you would imagine, it's a workout game based on the routines done in an NFL training camp. It looks really cool and comes with some great tools that should make working out fun.And last, but I'm sure not least, is this game that I've been looking forward to for the Wii for a while. It's "Epic Mickey," which is a platformer featuring that lovable Mickey Mouse. I got the special edition of the game from Amazon and it comes out on November 30th.

After all of these games have arrived, I should have well over $40 worth of Amazon Game Dollars to spend on something else. I'm sure that in the next few months another game will come out that I'll want to buy, and the fact that I've preordered these games will come in handy when that other game will end up only costing me about $20 or so.

I'm looking forward to some great games this fall. Add to that the fact that "Bad Company 2" just announced some stellar downloadable content, and I think that I'll have my plate full for gaming this fall and winter!!!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

After our "Halo" campaign Tuesday night, my friends Elon and Alex came down to our house to go to dinner with Cathy and me.

Cathy and I have a nice little bar/restaurant near our house called Rocky Top that we have been to a few times over the years.

Well, last week we went there and they have a new menu and we really enjoyed it. The best part?? They have "Nuclear Chicken Wings." They are the hottest things I've ever had, and I loved them.

After I told Elon about them, he really wanted to try them so that's where we decided to go. We all had a great time and the food was excellent. Elon didn't fare quite as well with the nuclear wings as I did, but he still enjoyed them. Alex got a ham sandwich that had bacon on it...and bacon at Rocky Top isn't just bacon...it's deep fried bacon. Yah, that's right.

I'll have to try a sandwich with the deep fried bacon the next time we go there. It looks incredibly good!!!

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Halo Reach came out yesterday, and I got it from Amazon with fee release date shipping so it was waiting for me when I got home.

My friends Alex, Ryan, Elon and myself all ended up playing through the campaign in one sitting last night after work. Then Alex and I ended up playing multiplayer for a good couple of hours.

It had been a long time since I played "Halo" online, and I remembered what I liked and didn't like almost immediately. Playing with friends in the game is great fun, and I had a blast going through the campaign. But playing against others online isn't quite as fun as it used to be...it seems like you can't find a game that isn't full of people that just want to yell and scream and do whatever they want instead of trying to play the game.

Oh well, there are plenty of modes to play cooperatively with friends this time around, so I think the game will give me plenty of play time over the next few weeks. Unfortunately, I just don't see it replacing "Bad Company 2" as my go-to adversarial multiplayer game...

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

I went 1-4 in my leagues this week...and the worst part is, none of the games were even close, except the one that I won. My opponent scored at least twice as many points as me in every loss, and in my one win I squeaked by with a 6 point win.

The good news??

All three of my opponents in my survival league took a strike in the first week. Two strikes and you're out. One guy had San Fran picked, and they got waxed by the Sea Chickens. The other two both had the Bolts, who got upset by KC in the new house.

I also came out on top in my regular Pick Em league, going up by two points over the second place guy, but by 20 and 30 over the third and fourth place players.

So even though my teams didn't pan out very well, my pick leagues are looking good so far.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

It's "NHL Slaphsot." It's the Wii's version of "NHL 11" by Electronic Arts. I used to really enjoy the NHL series on consoles, but with the newest generation of consoles, it seems that they have lost the "fun" and gotten a bit too complicated. They lost their charm, in my opinion.

The problem?? The games that weren't so complicated were WAY too arade like. They were like 2 on 2 affairs with a goalie for each team.

Enter "NHL Slaphsot" for the Wii. It's a hockey game that seems like the ones that I used to enjoy. Five on five with all the regular rules of the game, but none of the added simulation stuff to get in the way like salary caps and contracts.

To make it even better, it's controlled with an actual hockey stick. Yup, the Wii Remote and Nunchuck fit into a plastic hockey stick and you control the entire game with the stick.

To move you just use the analog stick on the nunchuck. Passing is handled with the "A" button, speed burst with the "Z" button, "C" drops your player to the ice to block a shot, and the "B" button is basically a modifier.

That's where the buttons end, though, and the fun begins. To shoot the puck, flick your stick forward for a wrist shot, just like you would do with an actual hockey stick. For a slap shot, bring the stick back and rip it forward. To check, push the whole stick forward like you are cross checking someone. Holding down the "B" button and moving the stick back and forth dekes with the puck, and holding the "B" button down and jabbing the puck forward performs a poke check. You can even hold "B" and flick the stick up to pop your opponents stick up in the air and swipe the puck.

I played for a couple of hours tonight...and I have to admit, I haven't had this much fun playing a sports game in AGES. I can really see myself playing this game quite a bit. It's just a ton of fun.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

I've listed the Dart that I have made on Ebay like 4 times now, and not had a single bid or offer for him.

Right now I have a Dart, a Vlad, and a Yeti Jr all on Ebay, and none of them have sold. Luckily, though, I just put the Yeti, Jr up tonight and he's already got someone watching him...so maybe that's a good sign that he'll end up selling.

I would have thought that with Halloween coming up in a couple of months that the Vlad the Vampire puppet would be getting more attention.

I'm getting frustrated because I don't know why the puppets don't get much attention. I see other puppets that don't look as nice as what I'm making that end up selling for more than what I am asking for my puppets. I don't know if my pricing is still off...maybe a lower starting bid with the same Buy it Now?? I don't know if maybe the stuff I'm making just isn't really interesting to other people.

I was hoping to sell a couple more on Ebay and get some customers so that I could put up more testimonials on my site and hopefull attract even more business.

Oh well...it's not like I'm really losing any money or anything like that. It's like 75 cents to list them on Ebay, and you get one relisting free when they don't sell. So all of my listings have cost me a total of about $5.

I'm also selling on another site, Etsy, which is only for home made items...and even on there the puppets don't seem to generate a ton of interest.

Oh well...I guess maybe I was getting ahead of myself and hoping for too much.